This cute little necklace is always a big hit with younger children. My own little ham, who was two when I took this picture, wouldn’t hardly taken it off after she made it… Except when she ate dinner.  She liked it so much that she didn’t want to get any food on it. If that’s not an endorsement from a two year old, then I don’t know what is!

What You’ll Need:

• Foam heart shapes (cut them out yourself or puchase pre-cut hearts)
• Drinking straws (2 or 3)
• Yarn
• Scissors
• Hole punch

What to Do:

1. Punch a hole in the middle of each heart. Once you have your hearts ready, cut the drinking straws into one inch lengths. The straw pieces and the hearts will be the “beads” of your necklace.

Note: If you’re cutting our your own foam hearts, you’ll need a bunch of them measuring about 1-2 inches across. If you’re buying them, don’t get the ones with the adhesive backing. A tub of hearts is inexpensive and you can pick them up at your local craft store.

2. Cut a piece of yarn long enough to make a necklace for your child that will easily go over their head. Put a loose knot is one end to keep the “beads” from falling off.

Note: If you child is very young, wrap a piece of tape around the other end of the yarn to make it easier to thread the beads on the yarn. Kids who are a little older will have no problem.

3. Thread the hearts and pieces of straw onto the yarn in an alternating fashion… one heart, one straw, one heart, etc. until you’ve put as many beads on your necklace as you want.

4. To tie off the necklace so that the knot won’t come out, put both ends together and loop them into a knot. Don’t forget to un-tie the loose know from step 2 and cut off the tape on the end if you used it.

That’s it!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Valentine Necklace Craft

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Now that we’re in February, I guess it’s time to start posting Valentine’s Day crafts… I can’t believe how fast the time is flying by!

These little stuffed Valentine hearts are a great project for children of all ages, including scouts and elementary classrooms because you can choose to make them as simple or as complex as you want.  Plus they are REALLY inexpensive to make.  You may have seen this one here before, but they’re such a great craft that I had to post it again… Did I mention that they’re just plain fun too?!?

What You’ll Need:

• Lunch sized paper bag
• Newspaper
• Red acrylic paint
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Paint brush

What to Do:

1. Cut out two identical hearts from the paper bag.

The way we did it was to cut the bottom of the bag off, and then cut down one side to make a large sheet. Then we cut the paper in half, put the two halves together and folded them in half. This way we could cut two identical hearts at the same time by cutting a half heart on the fold.

2. Put the two hearts together and staple all the way around them, leaving a three inch (more or less) space open on one side. This will make a little pocket.

The staples should line up close together about a quarter of an inch from the edge of the paper. This doesn’t have to be exact, but it looks better when it’s pretty uniform.

3. Crumple up pieces of newspaper and put them through the hole you left in the staples. Do this until the heart is as stuffed as you want it to be. When you’re satisfied, staple the hole closed.

4. Paint both sides of your stuffed heart with red acrylic paint. You may want to paint one side, let it dry, then paint the other to make it less messy.

Variations:

There are a lot of things you can do to this basic craft to make it more pretty or useful…

• Write a love note on it and present it to your special Valentine.
• Dip your hand in white paint and stamp your handprint on the heart.
• Decorate the heart with other objects like buttons, beads, glitter, gems, paper, etc.
• Staple in a piece of yarn when you’re joining the two hearts to make a hanger.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Stuffed Valentine Hearts Craft

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This easy bead Christmas wreath ornament craft is really easy to make for children of all ages to create. It makes a great project for small groups like scouting or classrooms too.

One of these little wreaths would also look great tied onto a gift!

What You’ll Need:

• A 12 inch white pipe cleaner
• 35 green tri-beads
• 7 red tri-beads

What to Do:

1. Feed 5 green beads onto the pipe cleaner, then feed on one red bead. The beads should interlock over each other.  Keep alternating the beads until you have them all on the pipe cleaner.

2. Move all the beads so that they are in the middle of the pipe cleaner and there are equal lengths of pipe cleaner at both ends.

3. Bend the beaded pipe cleaner into a circle and twist the two ends together to make a circle. Use the remaining ends of the pipe cleaner to make a bow.

When you get ready to hang the ornament on the tree, you can use a wire ornament hanger and hook it through the top of the ornament where the pipe cleaners are tied. You can also tie a piece of thread around the ornament to make a hanger.

Don’t forget about our Little Kid Christmas Crafts book!  It’s only available for a limited time!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Easy Bead Christmas Wreath Ornament Craft

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It just wouldn’t be crafting if we didn’t make something out of a recycled toilet paper cardboard tube.

This craft can be adapted to make just about anything including: Santa, Mrs. Claus, Reindeer, Snowmen, Elves, Angels, etc. In addition, you don’t just have to use toilet paper tubes. You can also use paper towel rolls and wrapping paper rolls.

You’ll Need:

• Recycled toilet paper tube
• Construction paper (red, white, pink, and black)
• Markers or cryaons
• Glue (or gluestick)
• Cotton balls
• Wiggle eyes (optional)

What to Do:

1. Wrap a cardboard tube with a 4 x 2 inch sheet of red paper and glue in place.

2. To make the face, use a 3 inch wide circle of pink paper and glue in place.

3. Cut a 4 inch wide half circle and roll it into a cone. Glue in place. Glue the cone on top of the tube to make Santa’s hat.

4. Cut a thin black strip of paper that is long enough to go around the tube. Glue it in the middle of the tube to make Santa’s belt.

5. Use the markers or crayons to make Santa’s facial features. You can use the optional wiggle eyes if desired.

6. Tear apart cotton balls and glue onto the tube to make the beard and hatband. Make a small ball of cotton and glue it to the point of the hat.

My kids are absolutely crazy about these things!  We have to make new ones each year.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Tissue Tube Santa Craft

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The paper plate wreath has probably been around just about as long as the paper plate itself, but what Christmas craft season would be complete if we didn’t do at least one paper plate wreath?

So here are a couple of ideas you might like to try this year!

Tissue Paper Plate Wreath

What You’ll Need:

• Cheap Paper Plate
• Green Tissue Paper
• Red Tissue Paper
• A Piece of Ribbon or String For Hanging
• Scissors
• Hole Punch
• White Glue

What To Do:

1.  Cut a hole in the center of the paper plate so that you have a ring that is about three inches wide.

2.  Cut your tissue paper (or tear it for a different effect) into 2 inch squares.

3.  Crumple each square up slightly and glue the center onto the plate. Fill the plate in with the green pieces, then go back and add red pieces randomly to make berries.

4.  Punch a hole in the top and thread the ribbon through to hang the wreath. You can embellish this project with a bow, glitter, etc.   You make this craft as fancy or as easy as you want and it’s suitable for kids of all ages!

Variation on the Tissue Paper Wreath

The tissue paper Christmas wreath above probably won’t work well with the youngest kids, but there is a variation that seems to work much better.

All you have to do is leave the tissue paper flat and glue the squares onto the paper plate, rather than crunching them up.  The project will go much faster this way and younger kids understand what they’re supposed to do better when you do it this way.

Plus it still makes a pretty wreath.

Evergreen Paper Plate Wreath

What You’ll Need:

• Cheap Paper Plate
• Cheap Evergreen Garland (Dollar Store Type)
• Red Pom Poms
• Glue (Hot glue or white glue)
• Stapler
• Ribbon

What To Do:

1.  Cut a hole in the center of the paper plate so that you have a ring that is about three inches wide.

2.  Cut a piece of the garland that’s long enough to go all the way around the surface of the paper plate… probably about 18-24 inches depending on the size of the plate.

3.  Staple the garland to the plate, making sure the place the staples on the center cord of the garland.  You’ll need to staple it every four inches or so all the way around the wreath, then fluff it up so that you can’t see the staples.

4.  Glue red pom poms onto the wreath using either white glue or hot glue (adults only).

5.  Tie a ribbon into a bow and glue it onto the wreath.

6.  If you want to hang your wreath, punch a hole in the top and use a string or simply tie a string around the wreath.

This is the wreath pictured and would work well for older kids, scouts, etc.  If you don’t want to use staples, you could always hot glue the garland onto the paper plate, but most kids shouldn’t use a hot glue gun on their own.

I hope you enjoy the wreaths!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Paper Plate Wreath Ideas

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This is a fun way to keep track of the days until Christmas, especially for younger kids.  It’s also a good way to get in a little counting practice if you make them count the days off each day.

But don’t think it’s limited to younger kids — This is a big deal at our house where we make a big production of tearing off the next ring after dinner each night.  The kids absolutely love it!

What You’ll Need:

• The template below printed on yellow construction paper
• Red construction paper
• Green construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Crayons (optional)

What to Do:

1.  Cut 13 strips of red construction paper that are about 1 inch wide and 8 inches long. Cut 12 strips of green paper with the same dimensions.

2.  Print out the bell pattern below on yellow construction paper. Color with crayons if desired and cut out. (You could also decorate the bell with glitter, sequins, markers, etc. if you want.)

3.  Roll one of the red strips of paper into a loop and staple it onto the bottom of the bell. Loop a green strip of paper through the red loop to get the chain started. Continue to alternate the red and green strips of paper to make a chain that has 25 links in it.

4.  Hang the bell and chain up in a prominent place and tear off one link at the end of each day until Christmas.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Countdown to Christmas Bell

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Here are some super easy and fun ways to get kids involved in the Thanksgiving feast.

I like to “assign” these table decorations to the kids while I’m working on dinner to keep them busy.  It makes them feel like they had a part in the preparations and keeps them busy while I cook.

These would also work well if you’re planning a school or scout dinner with a group of kids!

Handprint Turkey Placemat

This method requires some adult help — Use paint or washable stamp pads for this project, and what ever kind of paper that is appropriate for the paint. Paint your child’s palm and thumb brown. Then paint each finger a different color and press their hand onto a piece of paper. Add a beak, gobbler, eye ( a wiggly glue on eye is great), and feet.  This makes a cute front page for a card or you can cover is with contact paper or laminate it to make a great Thanksgiving Dinner Placemat.

You can also have the kids trace around their hands onto a large piece of construstion paper.  After tracing, color the turkey and create a background for him on the placemat.  This is usually the way we do it on Thanksgiving day!

Easy Bead Napkin Rings

These are super easy!  Cut a chenille stem to about 6 inches.  Thread some pony beads onto the chenille to make any kind of pattern you choose.  When you’re done putting on the beads, bend the chenille into a ring and twist the ends together.  Now you can use it for a napkin ring at dinner!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Thanksgiving Table Crafts

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This simple votive candle idea makes a nice little gift or a creative way to use some of the leaves you collect during an Autumn nature walk. You could also create a few to sit on your dinner table during your Thanksgiving Dinner to add a little something special to the setting.

Plus it’s a nice little craft that older kids will be proud to take home too!

You’ll Need:

• A small drinking glass or votive holder (a baby food jar would also work well!)
• Real or silk fall leaves
• Glue
• Raffia
• A votive candle

What to Do:

1.  If you’re using silk leaves, peel the cloth off of the plastic veins.  That will give you a flat leaf to work with.

2.  Glue the leaves (real or silk) around the outside of the votive holder, glass, or baby food jar. You can arrange the leaves in any way you want.

3.  Take a couple of strands of raffia and tie them in a bow around the middle of the votive holder, over the top of the leaves.

4.  Drop in a candle and you’re done! Take a look at how pretty it looks when it’s lit.  Although this picture doesn’t do it justice, it looks really pretty with the candle light peaking through the colored leaves.

NOTE: You can pick up tons of small drinking classes, votive holders, and small jars at thrift stores, Salvation Army, etc. REALLY cheap.  They always have a lot of that kind of stuff around!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

REALLY Easy Fall Votives

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Okay, I know that this one isn’t exactly unique, but could we really have Thanksgiving without doing some kind of American Indian craft?  This one is super simple, and the kids love wearing them… even my oldest gets into making headbands!

Indian Headband

There are so many variations on this project, but kids love just any type of head band. You can omit the feathers altogether and use construction paper cut into feather shapes, you can use glitter, sequins, etc. to embellish the headbands, you can go hog-wild and create a chief’s head dress. It all depends on how much work you want to do for a project that they will probably tear up before the day is through. Keep in mind that this is a good opportunity to talk to your children about the role that Indians played in the first Thanksgiving.

What You’ll Need:

• Brown construction paper
• Stapler
  
• Glue
• Feathers
• Markers
  

What To Do:

1.  Cut the brown paper into strips for the head band.  Decorate the strips of paper with American Indian markings (optional).

2.  Measure your child’s head for fit and staple it in place.

3.  Glue feathers onto the band so that they stick up.

Very easy kid Thanksgiving craft idea!  If you’re on a budget this year — like so many of us are — just use scrap construction pieces and cut out your own feathers!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Simple Indian Headband Craft

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I like to do just about anything that will get my kids thinking about how blessed they are in their lives, and a Thankful Book craft does a really great job!

This is a craft project that would be ideal for just about any group of kids, regardless of age.

The idea is to make a Thanksgiving keepsake for your child.  You can make this as elaborate or simple as you want. You don’t even have to “make” the book.  You could purchase a small scrapbook, Thanksgiving stickers, etc. and make this a really simple project.   But for those of us on a budget, a homemade Thankful Book is quick, simple, and fun.

What You’ll Need:

• A holiday picture
• Crayons
• Several sheets of paper
• Stapler
• Pen or marker

What To Do:

1.  Print out a holiday picture and let your child color it.

2.  On the sheets of paper, ask your child what they are thankful for (you may have to help them get started or give them examples to get the ball rolling). Write down each thing they are thankful for on a separate piece of paper.  You can even take this further by having them draw pictures of what they are thankful for, etc.

3.  Assemble all the sheets with the holiday picture on top and staple it along the side like a book.

There are so many variation of how you can do this book and make it a meaningful activity for your child… but I hope this gives you the general idea.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

A Thankful Book Craft

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